'Some People Call Me Maurice': Best Los Angeles theme bars

Jordan Rane, for CNN

Updated 0903 GMT (1703 HKT) February 10, 2015

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The Bigfoot Lodge – The "cabin in the woods" concept runs sufficiently wild at The Bigfoot Lodge, which is full of stuffed rodents and Angelenos drinking 'round the fire like they're actually coming in from the cold.

Saddle Ranch Chop House – A big ol' wooden lair done up with hay bales and mannequins in racy Western regalia, The Saddle Ranch Chop House is a steak and taters place with a mechanical bull.

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Good Luck Bar – It's all Far East at the Good Luck Bar, which has every opium den decor cliche on the list. Paper lanterns. Dragons on the ceiling. Cozy rooms with walls as red as Mao's Little Book. And a last-call gong.

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El Carmen – The cantina-style El Carmen has a huge selection of tequilas -- more than 400 at last count.

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Tiki-Ti – The yardstick of L.A. tiki bars, Tiki-Ti (which can barely fit a yardstick inside of it) has been pouring rum in cool cups since 1961.

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Tiki-Ti – Tiki-Ti is crammed with an ever-growing inventory of South Pacific bric-a-brac -- regulars keep bringing in stuff for the walls.

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Good Times at Davey Wayne's – Good Times at Davey Wayne's looks like the groovy den party Marcia Brady should have thrown when Mike and Carol split town for the weekend.

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Story highlights

At these L.A. haunts, the drinks come with a chaser of kitsch

Smokey the Bear guards the entrance of The Bigfoot Lodge

Like T-Rex and Rod the Mod? It's all '70s at Good Times at Davey Wayne's

Of course L.A. has a superb tiki bar

This piece, and several others on Los Angeles, complement the CNNGo TV series. This month's show features a food truck tour with filmmaker and actor Jon Favreau, an L.A. fashion icon's guide to shopping like a local and a visit to a bar-arcade where kidults flock for drinks and to play on its 40 restored arcade machines: www.cnn.com/cnngo

(CNN)You can pretend you're totally someone else at any bar after enough drinks.

But to pretend you're totally somewhere else?

That requires a more inspired atmosphere.

The transportive kind.

With, say, exotic opium den decor and a last-call gong.

Or vintage 1970s home furnishings and a dude in a mustache serving loaded sno-cones out of an old Airstream in the back.

Or a fake log cabin featuring flaming toasted marshmallow cocktails and a friendly reminder at the entrance that "only you can prevent forest fires."

Naturally, all of these drinking scenes are available in Los Angeles -- home to some of the most treasured theme bars anywhere.

With so many of them, where do we start?

How about with some favorite haunts, where alcohol wouldn't be caught dead without a chaser of intoxicating kitsch.

In hipster Hollywood, theme bars come and go about as fast as the latest cocktail craze.

One of the latest hit drinking scenes looks like it's been here since Marcia Brady threw that crazy, naughty house party when Mike and Carol were away for the weekend.

While that may be an episode we all sadly missed, fans of the grooviest bygone decade can play it out themselves in this fake '70s-style house and patio -- cleverly hiding behind a fridge door in the back of a faux garage.

Inside it's a swirl of green couches, homey lamps, family photos and hockey trophies on the mantle.

DJs spin T. Rex and old Rod Stewart atop a wood-encased TV set.

Bartenders pour Old Fashioneds on tap.

Out back, crowds veg in hammocks and gather 'round a converted Airstream trailer where sno-cone cocktails are served by a guy sporting a pre-"Dance Fever" moustache.

The yardstick of L.A. tiki bars, Tiki-Ti (which can barely fit a yardstick inside of it) has been confirming this wise adage since 1961 when patrons began squeezing into this family-run, overly adorned, shack-like landmark on outer Sunset Boulevard -- home to some of the strongest fruity cocktails between here and Vanuatu.

Crammed with an ever-accruing inventory of tiki masks and other South Pacific bric-a-brac (regulars keep bringing in stuff for the walls), the bar's dozen stools and handful of tables draw a mishmash of east side hipsters and Jimmy Buffet types.

And a line on weekends.

Nearly 100 tropical libations are on the drink menu, which includes an Uga Booga (but no wine or beer) and a cocktail wheel for indecisive types to spin.

Other crowd pleasers include a smoke-like-it's-the-'70s policy inside and enough atmosphere to fill a hundred Trader Vic's.

A big ol' wooden lair done up with hay bales, aged farming equipment, driftwood signs reading "Rustlers will be shot" and mannequins in racy Western regalia peaking out of second story windows, this steak and taters place with about 100 TVs serves massive enough drinks and ambiance to qualify as an honorary theme bar.

Even on the flashy Sunset Strip, Saddle Ranch Chop House stands out a mite.

It's a knee-slappingly welcome relief from the usual velvet-rope attitude doled out on this street.

Cocktails are served in 1 ½-liter carafes.

Out on the patio, there are campfire pits for do-it-yourself s'more roasting.

And, yes, there's a mechanical bull.

It's the only one (we know of) in Los Angeles -- aside from the three you'll find in a larger Saddle Ranch location just over the hill at Universal CityWalk.

Are fiery walls aglow with Mexican wrestling posters, 'round-the-calendar Christmas lights and a bull's head enough to transport you from the actual location of this compact drinking hive (seven blocks from the Beverly Center) into Lucha Libre land?

Por que no?

Especially when factoring in the bar's huge selection of tequilas (more than 400 at last count) and tasty antojitos menu.

On any given weekend night the place is filled with a mezcal-conversant crowd still young enough to count Thursdays as the weekend.

It should come as no surprise in L.A. that the city's most alluringly overdone Old Orient lounge has been hiding for years on a drab corner of outer Hollywood Boulevard across from an Auto Zone and next door to a vacuum and janitorial supplies store.

Jordan Rane writes regularly for CNN Travel and The Los Angeles Times. A Lowell Thomas Award recipient from the Society of American Travel Writers, his work on travel and the outdoors has spanned six continents and appeared in over 50 publications. He lives in Los Angeles.